Walter "Skip" Campbell Jr., former senator, Florida

Last week: George Zimmerman seems to get in a lot of trouble with guns. I bet he thinks he is being picked on by the authorities. The problem we as a society have is questioning whether he is a sociopathic criminal or misunderstood young man. I think his wife might know, based on her 911 call where she indicates he was going to shoot her and her father. Can he get away with it, twice, if he kills her and her father?

Looking ahead: President Obama will lose his fight in Congress for military action in Syria. The credibility of the Presidency will take a big blow by this loss.

Sept. 8

Last week: Greed is one of seven character flaws in mankind. It is difficult to understand how greed can take over a persons life as it did in Timothy McCabe's case. His greed has affected his family, friends and his profession. For every bad apple in the legal profession, there are thousands of great lawyers. Just look at Bob Butterworth, who has given his public life as judge, sheriff, mayor, attorney general, head of DCF. We are proud that he will be part of the mental health issue in Broward County.

Looking ahead: All eyes have to look at the U.S. House vote on whether we will strike Syria with military force. Two opposites seem to agree that we shouldn't be involved. Liberal democrats and conservative republicans are strange bedfellows.

Sept. 1

Last week: Fifty years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream of equality. The reality is that we have done better as a society but we have a long way to go. We need new leaders to keep the message going.

Looking ahead: Police killings seem to be the routine in Broward County rather than the exception. Someone is going to have to figure out why, and can they be avoided.

Aug. 25

Last week: A-Rod is certainly a lightning rod in baseball, but I think Major League Baseball is showing that they are not blameless in creating a circus atmosphere to this controversy. How can they fine Joe Gerardi more than Ryan Dempster and look at the public with a straight face and say they are fair and honest? The antagonist is asked to take a couple of days off with pay while the advocate is told to pay a fine. Something is wrong with this picture.

Next week: Stop and frisk laws like New York City has are going to be debated in the future. What we have to remember is that once some of your freedoms are taken away, you might loose all your rights.

Aug. 18

Last week: Israel is releasing Palestinian prisoners in a conciliatory attempt to re-start peace talks. They need to be applauded for this gesture. Maybe we will see peace and stability in this region in our lifetime. We all should pray for this.

Looking ahead: School is about to start back. We should be reading about how hard our good teachers are trying to educate our children. They even go as far as spending hundreds of their hard-earned money in buying supplies. Good luck to all you.

Aug. 11

Last week: Scientists have shown us the future of food for the world by growing a $300,000 hamburger. We might laugh and say why, but this might be a solution to future food crises if they can make it economically feasible.

Looking ahead: Drug testing for high school athletics — and who and how we should pay for it — will be a topic of future discussion after the A-Rod suspension.

Aug. 4

Last week: The Obama administration claims that one of his biggest legislative accomplishments is the Health Care Law. Some republicans in the Senate are tarqueting this law for repeal by shuting doen the government using the US budget as ammunition. The government has been running on a six - month extension, called a continuing resolution. Lack of a continuing resolution can force the complete shutdown of governmet. The Senate should debate health care financing without subjecting our economy to adverse consequences.

Looking ahead: Snowden will slowly release more damaging information about how NSA has been spying on US.

July 28

Last week: A search for weapons of mass destruction led to a very costly war in Iraq in terms of lost lives and billions of dollars in your tax money. Now we are being asked to consider getting more heavily involved in the civil war in Syria. It is about time that our military commanders are weighing in on the costs of such action. Gen. Martin Dempsey should be congratulated on his analysis of our potential involvement. We should think before we jump.

Looking ahead: I think there will be a deep analysis in how strong is the name of the third in line for the British crown.

July 21

Last week: Dating back to the era of Ceasar, a senator by the name of Cato used the filibuster to delay and sometimes stop proposals of Emperor Ceasar. The story of the Senate doing battle over the confirmation of Obama's nominees for executive offices is significant from a historical perspective. It seems the senators realized that the filibuster is important for the political process. Both parties have been in the minority and need this parliamentary practice to protect their interests.

Looking ahead: Panama stopped a North Korean boat with suspected weapons heading to countries who don't necessarily like us. Are we seeing a potential Cuban missile crisis developing?

June 30

Looking ahead: All eyes are on the Zimmerman trial. Right now it does not seem to be a circus like many high profile cases. Let's hope it stays that way.

June 23

Last week’s headline: The story that caught my eye deals with the death penalty.We all remember the Boston Marathon, Sandy Hook,Aurora Colorado murders. Pure emotions bring as to the bible which says an ""Eye for an Eye."".Death to those that kill.

While in the Senate I tried to get a bill passed to speed up the death penalty process, which is what was recently attempted by the legislature. Delayed justice for victims' families was the basis for my concerns.

During the debate the complexity of the matter hit me square in the eyes.Individuals like Pitts and Lee and recently Seth Penlaver showed that the system of securing justice might be flawed. As a society I know that we don't want to execute innocent people.

Many people believe that the death penalty is more cost effective than housing a prisoner for life. It has been estimated that it cots the government 5 million dollars to carry out the death sentence as opposed to $750,000.00 to house and feed for life without parole.

The burden for paying is on us the taxpayer. Can we more wisely spend that money? That is the question in addition to should we more wisely spend the money.

June 16, 2013

Last Week: The slow death of democracy seems to be occuring when our government spies on the press and ordinary citizens.I once remember a constitutional professor say that it was his belief that democracy would not die by war but rather there would be a slow extinction when Americans become apathetic and indifferent to our rights and liberties. There is an undernourishment of how significant our constitution is to us all.

Looking Ahead: Zimmerman and Martin will be two names that we will hear about for the next six weeks or so.Will justice be blind? Of course it should be but I have a feeling that there are those in the community that want to stir the pot.